This blog describes my 24-day traverse of the Pyrenees from Atlantic to Mediterranean, July 2011.
The Pyrenean Haute Route is around 800km with 42,000 metres of ascent.

Map of the route | Schedule

Stages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Day 16 - Estany d'Airoto to Bordes de Graus

16th July 2011

HRP - Day 16

I was keen to get away early to find some water, so my alarm was set for 5am. However when I was ready to leave at 5.40am it was still virtually pitch dark, so I delayed a few minutes before setting off by headtorch at first.

It was relief to descend from the Collada del Clot de Moredo to La Basseta to find a stream that was strangely disappearing straight into the hillside. I felt much better after a good drink, but then made a few bad route choices on the descent to Alos d'Isil and ended up taking the long way round on a rather tortuous dirt track. I took a good break at Alos d'Isil to eat and refill my water bottle.

After Alos d'Isil was pleasant section of road beside a sparkling river, before turning off for a steep wooded climb that eventually lead steeply to the Coll de la Cornella 2485m.

The following section to Refugi Enric Pujol was through rugged landscape scattered with mountain lakes. I stopped for a few minutes at the Refuge - the small metal box type - to chat with an English/New Zealand couple. When I mentioned how little food I was carrying, these suggested the detour to Bordes de Graus Camping. This seemed like quite an appealing option to get a proper meal. My orginal plan had been to continue to Noarre and beyond, but there was no way I could reach Refugi de Certascan today, so I decided to drop down to Graus.

The campsite was relaxing with good food, however it was the only time in the whole that I was really savaged by mosquitoes.


View HRP - Day 16 in a larger map




1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello!
This year there is a new hostel in the town of Alos (www.refugidalos.cat) with a small market in the summer.
It has also arranged and marked all the way from Bordes Moredo to Alos.